Setting

Random Retail. 9/2014. https://www.flickr.com/photos/walmart3/14928645324

There is an atmosphere that strangely occurs in the same manner in 7,600 locations nationwide. CVS is the second largest chain of pharmacies behind Walgreens. Even after completely revamping the purpose and outward appearance of the company, CVS stores are still very similar on the inside and all closely resemble each other. Since the update of the pharmacy chain, customers now enter the CVS realm after being greeted by the brand’s new logo: a simple red heart with square edges with the company name next to it. And it is under the conditions of the label of CVS Pharmacy that it absolutely necessary for a young mother with too many children, several scowl-faced adults living mundane lives, and an utterly confused senior citizen to all simultaneously be roaming the shop at 2 pm on a Monday. The same white shelving units create aisles in the same patterns at each store. There is a constant, yet not overbearing, smell of disinfectant that is lingering after the employees have run out of jobs to do and have become so bored that the only way to keep busy is assumedly by cleaning every nook and cranny. Faint radio hits from five years ago are playing. This is the average landscape of a CVS Pharmacy. Now, more specifically, this event took place at CVS Pharmacy headquarters in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. This CVS location was the first to open, and thus remains the business headquarters. Although the decision that sparked the debate originated in this location, its effects were carried throughout the United States.